Thanks For Being Our Partners to save newborns and bring better health to countless children!
In 1996, Project Vietnam was founded as an international health program of the American Academy of Pediatrics California Chapter 4. We have brought teams of volunteers twice annually to remote rural areas, to offer life-changing surgeries for children with birth defects and vision problems, providing health exams and treatment at clinics and schools and training health personnel at all levels from the lead institutions to villages. Starting January 2008, Project Vietnam continues its mission as Project Vietnam Foundation, to expand services to needy children.
As we gained insight into the health needs in rural areas, our specialists developed simple interventions and pilot programs. We discovered that each year almost 15,000 newborns were hospitalized with serious brain hemorrhage and countless babies suffered brain damage because of vitamin K deficiency. An injection of vitamin K administered after birth to 40,000 babies in Ha Tay province eradicated the problem. This successful model was adopted into national policy in 2003. Project Vietnam continued to seek improved health policy for newborns, and initiated a Newborn Care Initiative in 2005. Two pilot programs in the provinces of Khanh Hoa and Vinh Phuc led to training in newborn resuscitation and skills, in collaboration with pediatric leadership in North and South Vietnam. Several projects on newborn jaundice, infection control and respiratory care, have uncovered effective methods to address the problems. To date over 40 provinces have been trained, and a survey of 15 hospitals demonstrated reduction of up to 50% in infant mortality at sites of implementation.
In Vietnam infants represent 51% of child deaths, however almost 2/3 of the remaining mortality could be improved with good pediatric emergency services. In Kien Giang province, it is unsafe to transport children with emergency conditions, and waterways represent a constant challenge to healthcare access. Project Vietnam launched there a pilot program in March 2007. In July 2006, a pediatric cardiology program was started with specialists at Oakland Children’s hospital, because of the thousands of children with congenital heart diseases in need of treatment. Less than a year later, Nhi Dong 1 hospital did their first open-heart operations with great success!
At the request of students eager to participate, we held the first Summer Service Camp in July 2007 which brought 55 students from the US & Canada, to work with Vietnam students to improve their communities through construction projects, rural clinics and visits to orphanages and centers for handicapped children. Many of the volunteers took on medical projects which promoted infection control at health facilities.
In 2008 Project Vietnam Foundation will continue the work by bringing resuscitation kits and training to needy provinces, and seek to update knowledge on vital treatments for children. Besides medical mission trips to provide operations and medical treatment to children in remote rural areas, we seek to empower the local health professionals through training and innovative solutions which are culturally appropriate. At this time there are 8 ongoing program sites at rural provinces, where our volunteers look into current health practices and pilot realistic changes.
All the achievements of the past happened because of the dedication of our members and the support of our donors. In partnership with our benefactor individuals and organizations, we pledge to bring better healthcare to the children and families in Vietnam, especially children-at-risk and poor communities.
Thanks for being our partners to save newborns and bring better health to countless children!
Quynh Kieu MD
President, Project Vietnam Foundation
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